Haval
Leadership History
3 leaders · 1990 to present
Mu Feng is the CEO of Haval, in the role since 2022.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mu Feng | President and CEO, Great Wall Motor | 2022 | Present | 4 |
| Wang Fengying | President, Great Wall Motor | 2002 | 2016 | 14 |
| Wei Jianjun | Chairman, Great Wall Motor | 1990 | Present | 36 |
Haval is Great Wall Motor's mainstream SUV brand, sitting below WEY and Tank in GWM's lineup. It sells compact and mid-size SUVs such as the H6, Jolion and Big Dog to price-conscious families in China and abroad, and accounts for more than half of GWM's annual unit sales. The company is headquartered in Baoding, China.
Haval builds only SUVs, which keeps its R&D and manufacturing costs lower than those of automakers with full ranges. Its offer is value: a Haval SUV comes with large screens, leather seats and advanced safety sensors of the kind found in European premium SUVs, at a much lower price than foreign joint-venture brands.
President and CEO, Great Wall Motor
2022 – Present
4 years (current)
Pushing hybrid rollout and overseas factories, including plans for Europe and Brazil.
Mu Feng runs GWM's day-to-day operations across Haval, WEY, Tank, ORA and the pickup brand, with a focus on new-energy models and global production.
President, Great Wall Motor
2002 – 2016
14 years
Wang executed the highly aggressive, masterstroke strategy of completely abandoning sedan manufacturing to focus absolutely entirely on SUVs (launching the Haval H6), perfectly predicting Chinese consumer trends.
Serving as the highly influential President and CEO of Great Wall Motor for nearly two decades, she built Haval into the absolute best-selling SUV brand in China before leaving to join Xpeng in 2023.
Chairman, Great Wall Motor
1990 – Present
36 years (current)
Made Haval a standalone SUV brand in 2013.
Wei Jianjun has led GWM since 1990 and is its controlling shareholder. He decided to separate Haval from the Great Wall brand in 2013 and still sets group strategy.
Haval operates in an ultra-competitive global automotive sector characterized by rapid price warfare and electrification transitions. Key challenges include defending market share in China against aggressive price-cutting by pure electric vehicle manufacturers (such as BYD); accelerating the transition of its high-volume ICE customer base to Hi4 hybrid and plug-in electric platforms; navigating shifting import tariffs and geopolitical regulations across overseas export markets (such as the European Union and Latin America); managing raw material and battery cell supply chains; and expanding local assembly manufacturing footprint in Southeast Asia and South America.
Wei Jianjun (Jack Wey) is the Chairman and driving force behind Great Wall Motor (GWM) and the Haval brand. Taking over a struggling municipal coach repair garage in Baoding in 1990 at age 26, Wei transformed GWM into China's premier pickup and SUV manufacturer, launching the dedicated Haval brand in 2013.
In 2013, Wei Jianjun made the historic strategic decision to officially separate Haval as an independent brand with its own logo and halt sedan car development, focusing 100% of company capital and engineering resources on becoming the world's leading specialist SUV brand.
Under Wei Jianjun, Haval created the record-breaking Haval H6 (over 100 months as China's #1 SUV), built state-of-the-art automated manufacturing plants, expanded exports and overseas plants in Thailand, Russia and Brazil, established overseas R&D centers in Germany, Japan, and India, and launched the Hi4 hybrid revolution.
Haval is run within Great Wall Motor under president and CEO Mu Feng and chairman Wei Jianjun, with brand-level managers responsible for product and sales.
Wei Jianjun champions a culture of military-style operational discipline, engineering R&D reinvestment ('excessive R&D investment'), zero-defect manufacturing quality, and strict corporate anti-corruption transparency.
GWM hired designers and engineers from foreign carmakers, including former BMW and Kia designer Pierre Leclercq, to improve Haval's styling for Chinese and export buyers.
Leadership directs GWM's 'Go Global' strategy, establishing regional corporate headquarters in Australia, Thailand, and South Africa, acquiring international production plants, and sponsoring major global sports events to build international brand recognition.
Wei Jianjun's vision is to establish Haval as one of the world's top three global specialist SUV brands, achieving 100% electrification across its lineup through intelligent Hi4 hybrid and battery systems while leading in intelligent autonomous safety.
Because Haval is a sub-brand, it is ultimately controlled by Wei Jianjun (Jack Wey), the legendary billionaire Chairman of Great Wall Motor. He took over a heavily indebted local cooperative in 1990 and ruthlessly built it into a massive global auto empire, specifically driving Haval's hyper-aggressive focus on SUVs and global exports.
Compare executive leadership tenures and strategic transitions
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